


The Darkest Night Never Felt So Bright With You By My Side

by BrokenLullabye



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 5 Times, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, On the Road Again Tour, One Direction Hiatus, Post-Zayn, Snapshots, but really 4 times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 20:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10601631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenLullabye/pseuds/BrokenLullabye
Summary: They have the lives that people dream of but that doesn't mean it's always easy. Sometimes things get so rough the boys might break, if not for Daddy Direction to save the day. But what happens when Liam's the one that needs saving?(or three times Liam helped the other boys and one time they helped him)





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story I've ever posted, so sorry if it's a bit rough around the edges. But anyway, I hope you all like it!
> 
> The title's from Outer Space/Carry On by 5 Seconds of Summer

“Niall!” Liam calls out down the empty hallway backstage. He knows that they usually leave things to the last minute, but this is just ridiculous. They have to be on stage in ten minutes for the first show of the European leg of the tour and no one knows where Niall is. Somehow the Irish one of their group managed to slip away without anyone seeing where he went. With the others still getting ready, Liam has to be the one to find him.

 As Liam wonders down the unused hall, his aggravation grows. The first shows are always the worst, everyone is rushing around trying to get things done and the tension builds high, only released when they finally step out on stage. And now Niall has added to the problem by getting himself lost.

 “Just ridiculous,” he mumbles under his breath, “after five years you would think…” He opens the door to a small storage room, where sitting on a folding chair is a familiar blonde.

 Niall looks up from the guitar in his laps and smiles as Liam steps in. “Hey there Payno,” he greets in his usual carefree manner, apparently unaware of how Liam had been looking for him.

 “What are you doing here? We have to be on stage in ten minutes and you went missing,” the words come out a bit harsher than Liam meant, but with all the stress that had been building up he didn’t really care.

 The smile on Niall’s lips falters for a second. “Sorry,” he said looking back down, “I must of lost track of time.”

 Any retort Liam had dies when he looks at the instrument in Niall’s hands, or more precisely, how tightly Niall was holding on to it. If there was one thing Liam has learned about the younger boy over the years it was that Niall used guitars the same way children used blankets. He always felt more comfortable with a guitar in his hands, using the instrument as both a way to express himself and something to put between him and the rest of the world.

 “Hey, what’s up?” Liam’s voice is softer now as he pulls over a chair to sit in front of his friend. Niall shakes his head, fake smile pulled tight, and starts to say something, but Liam interrupts. “And don’t you dare say everything’s fine.”

 Niall closes his mouth and stares at Liam for a minute. Slowly his smile starts to fall. Internally, Liam pats himself on the back, knowing that he won this particular exchange. Niall adjusts the grip on his guitar and sighs, “It’s just, I don’t really like this place.”

 At first, Liam doesn’t reall understand. There’s nothing really special about this place. It’s just another stadium in another country, the same as everywhere else. They even came here last year- wait. Liam’s face twists in a mixture of anger and concern at the memory. Niall snorts at the realization Liam just had.

 “It’s fine, really. I mean it was a while ago, yeah? And it’s not like it hasn’t happened before.” But Niall’s voice is deflated as he speaks, making Liam feel even worse. This is the thing Liam hates the most, when people seem to fixate on one person in the group and say that they don’t belong, that they aren’t good enough for the amount of fame the boys have. It use to be more common in the beginning, especially when it comes to Niall.

 But as the years went on people got better. There were less stories about Niall’s supposed lack of talent as they won more awards to prove them wrong. But here, just last year, they had all seen the group of teens holding up signs urging the band to drop Niall’s “dead weight” in bright neon colors. He had seen how the spark in Niall’s eyes dimmed at the words even though he just shrugged it off after the show. And now he could see just how much these words, and all those like them, had affected the boy.

 “It’s not fine.” Liam’s voice was firm and he caught Niall’s gaze in his. “Don’t you ever say that it is. Everyone knows you’re just as talented as any of us, more so in some ways.”

 Niall gives him a small, sad smile before dropping his gaze. Liam knows he’s not really hearing the words, that the criticism is always louder than the praise. So he presses on, voice holding firm and a hand on Niall’s shoulder trying to get the boy to really hear his words.

 “You’re the only one of us that can really play an instrument. Judging by the amount of girls with Mrs. Niall Horan shirts on outside, you’ve been married at least a hundred times. And can you hear your solo in Little Things? Because I can’t, the croud is always screaming too loud for me to hear anything. They only ever scream like that for you.”

 Liam takes a breath and catches Niall’s eyes again which are shining just a bit now. When Liam speaks again his voice is soft and fond, full of nothing but sincerity. “And we need you. Me and the other boys, we wouldn’t be here without you.” Then he gives Niall a cheeky little grin and proclaims, “you’re what makes us phenomenNiall.”

 The blonde snorts in laughter at the words so many of their fans have written. Liam laughs too, out of relief. It always hurts him to see Niall down, in his opinion nothing but a smile should ever be on the blonde’s face.

 Before he can say anything else the door behind him opens. One of the new roadies stands there, a little out of breath as he says “Thank goodness, guys you better hurry, your on in five.”

 Niall stands up, his face now back to it’s usual and proper bright expression. “Well come on Payno,” he says his voice teasing, “can’t let you keep our fans waiting.”

 Liam shakes his head with a smile, not bothering to retort Niall’s statement. As they walk down the hallway back to the others, he feels Niall squeeze his shoulder in a silent thank you.

 

********************

 Liam always liked America. Not because of the bustling cities or the hordes of adoring, screaming fans. Not even because of how well the country that is arguably the most influential in the world of music, had welcomed him and the band. What Liam likes most is the driving. Everything is so spread out here that they could be driving for hours and see no sign of civilization. Out here it’s like they’re alone, reminding him just how small everything really is.

 All day they had been driving, passing only the occasional car and small town, a far cry from the big cities they’re used to. And now the bus is stopped at some middle of nowhere gas station to refuel. Usually he would appreciate how there was nothing around for miles. But at two am he really wants nothing more than to go back to sleep like the other boys. Except Louis, since it was his stomping off the bus that woke Liam up in the first place.

 With a groan Liam grabs a sweatshirt and trudges off the bus. He waves to their security standing guard as always and spies the other boy kicking rocks under a lone street light.

 “Leave me alone Payno.” Louis says shortly as Liam walks closer. He ignores the older boy’s words though.

 “Why? So you can continue terrorizing the area’s rock compilation?” Liam says teasingly. Then he rethinks his words and cocks his head to the side, “Is that the right word, compilation? I think I might have made that up.”

 Normally, Louis would have teased him for his word trouble but now he just kicks the next rock even harder. “Seriously,” Louis’s voice is tight like he’s trying not to yell, “go back on the bus Liam.”

 Liam frowns, something is definitely wrong. Louis had been off all day, snapping at everyone and severely slacking on his usual good-natured mischief. He sighs, dropping all joking from his voice in favor of concern. “What’s wrong Louis?”

 Louis just tenses up, kicking down the line of rocks and not holding back in his voice “Can’t I just” _kick_ “have” _kick_ “one” _kick_ “fucking” _kick_ “minute” _kick_ “alone!” At the last word Louis ran out of rocks and glares at Liam breathing heavily.

 He isn’t use to seeing Louis like this. Louis has a lot of moods, cheerful, mischievous, sleepy, grumpy, but rarely ever angry. Sure they’ve had arguments, they’ve lived around each other too long to not and they didn’t exactly get along in the beginning, but that was always just butting heads, not real anger. Liam doesn’t know what to say. But he must have stayed quiet too long because Louis lets out a huff and stomps off to sit at the edge of the pool of light.

 After a minute of getting staring, Liam walks over to him. He sits next to Louis, being sure to leave a small gap between them. For a while they just sit in silence, Liam watching Louis scuff his shoes in the dirt and Louis pointedly not looking at him.

 Liam pulls his sweatshirt tighter around him, the March night air chilly around them. He looks at Louis in just a tank top and jeans, goosebumps dusting his arms. He sighs, knowing that the bus will be ready to leave soon. “What’s wrong Louis?”

 Louis snorts and still refuses to look at him. “I don’t need your help Liam.” His voice is quieter, but still just as sharp as it was when he was yelling.

 Of all the boys, Louis’s the one that’s use to being in charge. Liam may have the reputation of being the sensible one, good old Daddy Direction, but Louis takes being the oldest seriously. He grew up being the responsible one for his sisters and sees the other boys as an extension of that, as his little brothers. Louis is use to dealing with things alone.

 “I know you don’t need to, but you can. You can talk to me, it’s better than storming off in the middle of the night.” He tries to convey his sincerity without sounding condescending. He’s rewarded with Louis finally looking at him, still glaring.

 But even in the dim light Liam can see the pain behind his eyes. He can feel Louis taking in the situation, weighing his options. Then he blinks and looks back out to the horizon.

Liam’s shoulders sag, feeling like he failed. He knows that Louis can be incredibly stubborn and if he doesn’t want to talk about something there is nothing Liam or anyone else can do to make him.

 “It’s their birthday.” Louis’s voice is soft now, vulnerable. Liam’s shocked by the words, both because he wasn’t expecting any to come and because he didn’t know what they meant. Before he can put the pieces together Louis speaks again, “It’s their birthday and I missed it. Again.”

 He thinks back to the twitter messages he saw earlier, hundreds of people wishing Louis’s sisters a happy 11th birthday. “It’s not you fault Lou. You have to work, they know that. And you called them earlier, we all talked to them.”

 Louis clenches his fists, his voice comes out strained like he’s simultaneously trying not to yell and cry, “I know that. But they shouldn’t have to. They should have their brother around on their birthday, in person.”

 Liam puts his arm around Louis, tentatively, not wanting to send Louis back to being angry. Of course this is what was upsetting Louis, Louis who still calls his mom everyday, who is a big brother to all of them, who holds family above anything else. Even knowing the problem doesn’t make Liam able to fix it. Instead he tries to reason with the other boy. “That’s why we’re going to take this break. So you can be around them. They don’t blame you for following your dream even though it takes you away. You’re setting an example for them.”

 He sees Louis drop his head into his hands and feels him lean against Liam’s side. Louis’s voice is shaky when he speaks again. “I missed so much. I mean, I love what we do but I missed five fucking years of their lives, so much happened that I had to hear about afterwards.”

 “You chased your dream you can’t be blamed for that. Even if you weren’t hear, in the band, you would be at Uni or at a job. You grew up, and so did they, there’s nothing you could have done.” Liam tries to help his friend, but he knows how hard it has been to be so far from home all the time. And as the years go on it just gets worse, the things they missed piling up higher everyday.

 For all of Louis’s words, Liam tries to have a response, both their voices quiet and shaking in the night.

 “I missed so much”

 “They know you had to, they don’t blame you”

 “I should have been there.”

 “They still love you.”

 “I miss them.”

 “I know, me too.”

 They’re both leaning on each other now, a melancholy silence having settled over them. Liam’s sure the bus will be ready soon and they’ll have to leave, but he doesn’t want to get up. He doesn’t even feel the cold from the night air anymore, not with Louis leaning into his side.

 “It’s a nice night,” Louis says looking up at the expanse of stars above their heads. Liam looks up at the sky, another thing he loves about the middle of nowhere drives in America.

 “Yeah, it is.”

  

********************

 It’s easy to forget that Harry is the youngest. People who don’t know them very well usually assume that it’s Niall, heck even he treats Niall more like the baby of the group sometimes. It’s because Harry’s tall and always so sure of himself, he has that deep voice that makes you forget just how young he is.

 But right now, looking at him curled in a ball on the hotel bed with the blanket wrapped protectively around himself, Liam has never been more certain of Harry’s age. For a moment he just stands there staring at Harry’s back as the other boy stares at his phone unaware of someone else in his room. All thoughts of retrieving his lost charger leave Liam’s mind. It’s clear that Harry is upset by his body language alone, but if that wasn’t enough the soft sniffles Liam hears are.

 Liam hesitates only a moment before stepping fully into the room, closing the door behind him. “Hey H, you ok?” His voice comes out barely above a whisper, but by the way his body tenses up he knows Harry heard him.

 “Oh hey, did you need something?” Harry is obviously trying to play it cool, but the shake in his voice is enough to make Liam close the gap between him and the bed.

 “Harry,” his voice still hardly a whisper. He looks down at the boy, because really Harry is still just a boy, who still has his back to him. Rather than answering, the other boy just continues to scroll through his phone. “Harry,” Liam tries again, this time with a bit more force behind his voice.

 Harry groans and turns his head to finally look at him. “I’m fine Li, just tired is all.” Liam doesn’t believe him for a second though. He can see that Harry’s eyes are red in the light of the phone. He turns to the device, seeing the site of one of the more deplorable rags. Liam only knows this paper, if you could even call it that, by it’s reputation of publishing any rumor they can get a sensationalist headline from. Harry follows his gaze and quickly shuts off the phone before Liam can read any more.

 It makes sense now. Liam stopped following the news about them years ago knowing that people would say anything just to get views without caring about how it might affect those involved. After the fourth time he had reportedly died, Liam just gave up. But he knows that Harry still reads them all. More importantly, he knows that the worse stories are always aimed at Harry. Stories about him being a womanizer, his aggressive tendencies, or the resentment he holds for the band, things that in the five years he’s known him Liam has never seen a trace of.

 Harry shifts uncomfortably in the silence that was growing in the room. Liam snaps out of his thoughts and lays down on the bed, untangling him from the sheets and pulling the younger boy into his arms. At first, Harry tenses up but soon he relaxes against his chest. “You shouldn’t read those H, you know that they’re just trying to get a rise out of people.” Harry stays quiet and Liam lets out a sigh. He knows it doesn’t matter if they read them or not, the articles are still out there filling people’s heads with their trash.

 The silence stretches for another minute before Liam tries again. “What did it say?”

 Harry opens his mouth as if he is going to speak, then seemed to think better of it and just shrugs. Liam sighs again because really it doesn’t matter what this article said, it is the same made up ‘news’ as the hundreds before it. They all forget that this band, his band, are still just boys. They’re still trying to figure out their lives like every other person in their twenties, and they have all the insecurities that come with it. Just because they’re greeted by screaming girls everywhere they go doesn’t mean the things people say about them don’t still hurt.

 Harry shifts in his arms, rolling over to put his head under Liam’s chin. “Why do they say this? I’ve never done any of these things.” Harry’s voice is broken and muffled as he buries his face in Liam’s chest. He can feel a wet spot growing on his shirt from the tears Harry isn’t able to keep back anymore.

 “I don’t know.” It’s all Liam can say. He doesn’t know how someone can write these this that makes one of the sweetest people he knows cry. He pulls the younger boy closer and gently rubs circles into his back as the wet spot gets wetter. “It’s not true though,” Liam says definitively. Even though Harry knows it, Liam has to make sure.

 They stay like that for a while, Liam holding Harry close, reassuring him with his presence rather than words. Eventually the tears stop and eventually they fall asleep.

 

********************

 When Liam steps into his house he is taken aback by the silence. Every time a tour ends he is surprised by how quiet his house is. Part of him loves it. He loves not having to live on top of so many other people, either shuffling from one hotel to the next or trapped on the bus. He loves that he finally gets a reprieve from their loud, albeit wonderful, fans. Here in his own house he can have real privacy and calm.

 But despite just finishing months of constant interaction, he misses the other boys. He does love his privacy, but he misses back in the day when they all lived next to each other. Back when they would gravitate together even after living in each other’s pockets on tour. They always had some pretense, but really they just wanted each other’s company. Niall would come to raid his fridge because he forgot to go shopping again, Louis would come to play video games claiming he was bored and no one else would, Harry would come to complain about Louis making a mess of their place and refusing to clean it up, and Zayn… well that was back when there were five of them.

 Liam shakes himself out of his thoughts and heads upstairs to take a shower. There was no point in wasting time getting nostalgic. They just ended a tour, just like they had before. It’s not like they were really gone.

 But as Liam stands under the water in the shower he thinks to himself that it’s not actually the same as all the other times. Before when they ended a tour they already had the next one planned and they were getting ready for another round of promo. Now they just had a couple last interviews then nothing. They go on an extended break not only from One Direction, but from each other. Sure they talked about possibly going on a trip together, actually getting to see some of the places they visited, but he knows that won’t happen. They just aren’t organized enough to get something like that planned.

 An indefinite hiatus, Liam laughs to himself. It’s a great way to put it. It is just vague enough to give them no commitments to anything. Even though they spent a lot of time reassuring their fans that they would come back, if he was being completely honest he wasn’t convinced. Something in they pit of Liam’s stomach felt like this was the end. He knew Niall had been working on some solo stuff, Harry had been talking about acting, and Louis was having a freaking baby. Heck, even he had some plans of his own. Liam knew that bands didn’t always come back and that breaks usually meant break ups.

 Liam turns off the shower and steps into his bedroom. “That doesn’t have to be a bad thing” he says out loud. They probably need some time apart to find out who they are individually after living in constant contact for five years and they all need a bit of a reprieve. Still it’s hard to not feel a bit sad.

 A crash comes from downstairs followed by some voices. Liam freezes, no one else was here and he didn’t know who would stop by this late at night. He creeps downstairs in his trackies, cell phone in hand, to see his intruders.

 “You gotta be more careful Lou.” A familiar Irish voice drifts up to him on the staircase.

 “It’s not my fault, Haz knocked me. Waste of good tea.” Liam hurries the rest of the way downstairs, not really believing what he’s hearing. He stops in the doorway to his kitchen.

 There he sees his band mates, Niall grabbing a towel from the sink, Louis staring at a broken mug on the tile, and Harry putting down boxes that looked to be from at least three different takeout places. He stands shocked, not really believing the scene in front of him.

 Louis is the first one to notice him. He steps over the mess on floor, grins at Liam and calls out, “Payno, finally. What, you got something against shirts now?”

 Liam looks down at his bare chest, he had been getting ready for bed. Then he glances over to the tea Niall’s cleaning up off the floor. “You broke my mug,” he says accusingly to Louis.

 Louis reels back in mock offense, “Me? It was Harry’s fault, bumping into everything.”

 “Well maybe if you helped me instead of standing around making a cup of tea,” Harry says, his jovial tone taking away from his reproach. Louis just sticks his tounge out in response.

 Liam kneels next to Niall and picks up one of the broken pieces carefully, the words _Late Late_ still visable. “This was one of my favorites” he pouts up at Louis.

 “If it means that much to you, I’ll steal another from James next time I see him.” Louis says waving his hand and effectively ending the matter.

 He stands up and throws the broken piece in the trash. Liam looks around the room again, still not completely believing it. “What are you boys doing here?”

 “Movie night,” Harry says as if it’s the most obvious thing.

 Liam stares at him puzzled, he couldn’t remember having anything planned “Really? Since when?”

 “About fifteen minutes ago,” Louis says giving him a cheeky smile. “You were late.” He pokes Liam in the chest then wonders into the living room.

 Liam smiles and shakes his head, he knew better than to question these kind of things. Instead he walks to the counter where Harry is laying out all the food. “That’s a lot of food, H. Did you get it.”

 Niall snorts behind him, pulling plates from the cabinet. He’s happy that his friends still know how where everything is in his house. “No way, I did. Hazza’s not allowed to get the food after last time.”

 “They were good salads Ni,” Harry insists.

 “A man needs to eat more than leaves,” Niall says glaring incredulously. Harry just takes the plates shaking his head. But both boys are smiling, this argument being an old, comfortable one.

 The boys start to load the food on the plates. It really probably is a bit too much Liam thinks, so he tells Niall. “Liam, do you have anything other than Disney?” Louis calls from the other room.

 “Yeah, in the left cabinet,” Liam calls back, then adds a bit defensively, “and hay, Disney’s good.” He hears Louis mutter something that sounds like ‘yeah, for kids’.

 The three boys bring their plates, Harry carrying an extra one for Louis, into the other room just as the other boy is putting a movie in. They all sit together on Liam’s large couch because despite their complaints about not having enough room in interviews, they really do prefer to cuddle together than sit apart. Liam smirks over at Louis when the beginning of Toy Story starts playing. He hits him playfully in the shoulder in response.

 They sit comfortably together. When the plates are set aside on the coffee table they spread out on top of each other and no one minds when their arms are trapped under another’s body. When the movie ends another is put on without a word.

 Liam looks over at the boys and smiles. He almost wants to laugh at how he was feeling earlier in the night. He really shouldn’t have worried, these are his boys. They have shaped and changed each other in ways even they didn’t realize. They have been together for what were probably the most important years of their lives and knew things no one else would be able to understand. That was something that could never be taken away. Even if One Direction never came back and they all went off to their own things, they would never be able to get rid of each other. He and the other boys were stuck together for life.

 And Liam wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading this! Please let me know what you think, I've never posted a story before and I'm a bit nervous about how it turned out. Also, I'm pretty new to this fandom (as in I started listening to their stuff just a couple months ago) so if I got events or things wrong please forgive me and I hope you weren't bothered by it too much.


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